The Hindu : Sport : Bagan in final

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Thursday, Dec 14, 2006
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Bagan in final

Principal Correspondent

KOLKATA: Former champion Mouhn Bagan beat Sporting Clube de Goa by a solitary goal to enter the final of the 112th IFA Shield football.

In the first semifinal here at the Salt Lake Stadium on Wednesday, Mohun Bagan dominated the proceedings, but failed to find the target till the 65th minute before midfielder Lalkamal Bhowmick put an end to the goal drought with a cleverly placed shot.

The first session remained generally placid with none of the two sides exerting much. Both the teams had a chance each, but none became productive as Baichung Bhutia for Mohun Bagan and Sporting Clube striker Nicolau Borges missed the target from close.

Mohun Bagan found its efforts paying off in the second session when Bhowmick scored in the 65th minute. The opportunity was created when Bagan wing-half Dharamjit Singh landed a cross on the Sporting goalmouth. The Sporting defenders failed to clear the ball, which hovered free inside the box and allowed Bhowmick a clear sight at the goal.

Mahindra United wins

Mahindra United shut out the hopes of Chinese visitor Shenzhen Kingway with a 1-0 win in the second semifinals.

Surkumar Singh scored in the 79th minute to fetch the late winner for the Mumbai giant.

After a drab first session, Mahindra changed gears bringing up the first scoring chance in the 50th minute when forward Manjit Singh snatched the ball from Shenzhen defender Fan Xiao Dong and set up a neat cross. With Mahindra's Portuguese striker Filipe Azevado reacting late Singh's good work failed to bring any result.

Once again in the 58th minute when Azevado failed to avail another assist from Singh.

It needed the powerful shooting ability of Surkumar Singh to breach the Chinese defensive wall.

The Mahindra defender found the net in the 79th minute with a rasping left footer — taken from around 25 yards — that powered into the net beating the Shenzhen custodian, Zhang Lei, all ends up.

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